Share Your Photos with LJHA!

Issue 11...........April 2021

The Lake Jackson Historical Association provides Education relative to the

History and Culture of Lake Jackson, Texas.

The History Museum and Plantation Site

continue to mix the OLD with the NEW

NEW....Digital Scan Day Comes to the

Farmers Market!

Do you have historic family photos, documents, letters, or other items that offer insight into the City of Lake Jackson and/or Brazoria County’s past? Join the LJHA Community Scan Day, May 8 from

9 am-1 pm at the Alden B. Dow Office Museum, 101 South Parking Way.

The public is invited to share their local history and help build a community digital photo collection. Volunteers will scan or photograph your historic photos, slides, documents or objects (limit 10 to 20 items per person). You keep your original items and receive a digital copy for sharing or saving. The Lake Jackson Historical Association will keep a copy of the scans for its digital archives.

We are seeking items that reflect local history, people, places and events. In particular, bring photos of local scenes and buildings; past residents; social events.

Help capture an important part of our community’s heritage and preserve it for future generations. To find out more click here.

Formal Flag Retirement..........JACKSON PLANTATION

Boy Scout troop 394, in a recent solemn ceremony, properly disposed of worn, frayed, and faded American flags. The Jackson Plantation Historic Site hosted the patriotic event on Saturday, April 3. Led by Sammy Johnson and three other scoutmasters, the troop spent the day collecting flags from the public and cutting them into sections according to color. Adhering to a traditional ritual, six scouts burned the fragments. One by one, they stepped up to the fire pit. First, the fields of blue signifying national unity were burned. Then, all the red stripes representing the bloodshed and courage of our forefathers were added to the flames. Finally, the white stripes symbolizing purity were incinerated. Thank you Troop 394 for your valuable service to the community.

CURIOUS COLLECTION.............OLD ITEM

Tatting Shuttle

A curious museum piece indeed!! This tiny instrument, less than three inches long, was used long ago to make lace. Known as a tatting shuttle, the hook on one end aided its user in tying double stitched knots onto a foundation thread. These knots, shaped into rings and chains, formed lacey material. The thread of choice was either silk or silk blend, but any thread not susceptible to untwisting could have been used.

Though the provenance of shuttle tatting is unknown, examples of similar looking knotting have been found on ancient Egyptian ceremonial dress. A mummy was discovered which had a skirt overlay of knotted rings resembling tatting. The technique may have originated with sailors and fishermen who designed motifs of decorative netting and rope work for their wives and girlfriends. The word “tatting” did not appear in print until 1843, because “knotting” was probably the term first used.

OLDIE, but Goodie...

WHO WAS ELISABET NEY?!?

In the early days of southern Brazoria County, schools were named for famous Texan pioneers – Stephen F. Austin, R. O-Hara Lanier, Oran Roberts, A.P. Beutel, and...in 1961, Brazosport school officials renamed Lake Jackson Primary School after an important early Texan woman, Elisabet Ney.

Elisabet Ney was born in 1833 in Munich, Germany, and was very outspoken on women’s rights for her day. Although she married Edmund Montgomery in 1863, she refused to take his name, and often denied she was even married. She once remarked, “Women are fools to be bothered with housework. Look at me; I sleep in a hammock which requires no making up. I break an egg and sip it raw. I make lemonade in a glass, and then rinse it, and my housework is done for the day.” She wore pants and rode horses astride as men did.

She became a celebrated sculptor in Germany, and when she was 39 years of age, she and her husband emigrated from Germany to Texas. She became an art pioneer in Texas, and her most famous works during her Texas period were life-size marble figures of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, commissioned for the Texas State Capitol. A large group of her works is housed in the Elisabet Ney Museum, located in her home and studio in Austin. Other works can be found in the US Capitol, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and numerous collections in Germany.

And…it is “Elisabet” a German spelling, – not “Elizabeth”. Something tells me that after learning about her character, she may correct us on that one.

Ney died in 1907 in Austin. Four years after her death, friends founded the Texas Fine Arts Association in her honor.

by Fran Hammond

LJHA Selected for Special Project

Alex Freeman, Executive Director of Texas Association of Museums (TAM), announced today the ten museums that will participate in Finding Alternative Futures, Phase 2: Digital Fluency (FAF2). The FAF2 participants are: Columbia Historical Museum; Fire Museum of Houston; Galveston Art Center; The Health Museum; The Heritage Society of Houston; Humble Museum; Lake Jackson Historical Association; The Printing Museum; Sugar Land Heritage Museum; and Woodlands Children’s Museum.

Finding Alternative Futures, Phase 2 (FAF2) is a two-year project made possible by a grant from the Houston Endowment. Planning began in September. It is taking place in the eight-county region around Houston, building on the successful 2017-2019 initiative Finding Alternative Futures: Sustainability through Coaching. While FAF2 retains key components, such as one-on-one coaching and capacity building for financial sustainability, it also addresses digital readiness and technologies that can help move the museum community forward in the current environment.

https://www.texasmuseums.org/finding-alternative-futures-phase-2

BUY A BRICK!

Leave your lasting imprint AND support the LJHA at the same time. Honor a friend. Memorialize a relative.

Pave the walkway to the museum or the Jackson Plantation Historic Site with a personalized brick.Order a Brick here.

A Word from the Executive Director

We made it through the first quarter of 2021! Spring really has things picking up steam for the

Association. The Texas Association of Museums (TAM) has an outstanding program called

Finding Alternative Futures: Digital Fluency and LJHA is proud to announce our selection to

participate! Please find more about the project and what it means to the organization on their

website. It really is exciting news! We are fortunate and grateful to be able to participate. The

Alden B. Dow Restoration is the Association’s big project for 2021, and it is full speed ahead! The project is underway with the current focus on fundraising efforts. Several Foundations have been approached with granting requests and more will be pursued in the near term. Significantly, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has endorsed the ABDOM preservation project and awarded LJHA their maximum $5,000 grant! They write:

“The National Trust is very supportive of this worthwhile preservation initiative and we hope that this financial commitment will assist your organization in raising any additional funds needed for this effort.”

I am very pleased to say that individual supporters and area businesses are also stepping up to help this important community asset be preserved and reopened. Local support is critical to this effort! If you or somebody you know would also like to contribute, you can send a check to P.O.Box 242, Lake Jackson, TX 77566. If you would like more information, please contact me, or LJHA Board President, Susan Buell.

David Thomas

LJHA Executive Director